Molded counter for arch supporting shoes



y 1960 A. BLUSTEIN 2,936,536

MOLDED COUNTER FOR ARCH SUPPORTING SHOES Filed Sept. so, 1959 FIG. I

FIG. 3

IN V EN TOR.

41m 1954mm MOLDED COUNTER FOR ARCH SUPPORTING SHOES Abraham Blustein,Haverhill, Mass., assignor to Brown Counter Company, Haverhill, Mass, apartnership Application September 30, 1959, Serial No. 843,388 1 Claim.c1. 36-68) This invention comprises a new and improved molded counter soconstructed and arranged that it may be molded by conventionalcounter-molding machinery and employed in arch supporting shoes whereinthe inside shank portion is built up throughout the shank and heel seat.

In the manufacture of such shoes it is customary and advantageous to uselasts of conventional shape in which the plane of the heel seat issubstantially at right angles to the line of the back seam. However, inconstructing an arch supporting shoe a tapered insert is introducedbetween the insole and the last bottom, thus throwing the insole otffrom the last by as much as 1520 along its inner shank portion. If theconventional molded counter is applied to a last having such insoleconfiguration the median line of the counter, which should correspond tothe back seam of the shoe, is thrown oil by to A; inch at the top of thecounter and so departs from the correct line of the back seam.

Manufacturers have attempted to remedy this difficulty by employingspecial molds for the counter-molding machine, building up the plug onone side and correspondingly shaping the cooperating molding jaw. Byusing special equipment they have been able to produce molded countersin which the inside flange is located in a lower plane than the outerflange thus tending to bring the median line of the counter back intoline with the back seam. This expedient however has not been entirelysatisfactory, first because it involved very substantial expense,requires equipment not useful in the more general run of the industry,and second because it does not produce an accurately fitting counter inall cases.

The present invention solves this long-standing ditficulty withoutincurring any expense whatever to the counter molder, insures aperfectly fitting molded counter and compensates for all conditionsbrought about by variations in the thickness on the arch supportingmember. These important results are secured by forming in the rear topedge of the counter a V-shaped notch offset inwardly with respect to themedian line of the counter with its axis inclined at the same orsubstantially the same angle as that found between the last bottom andthe outer face of the insole-that is to say, approximately 15-30". Whena counter of this configuration is applied to the last, the notch willbe found to coincide with the back seam line of the shoe at the top edgeof the counter and the geometrical axis of the notch is inclined so thatit intersects the back seam at a point somewhat less than half way upthe back of the counter. The notch therefore provides clearance for theback seam so that it may be correctly located in the finished shoe andstill conform to the shape of the molded counter beneath it.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings in which,

tes Patent Fig. 1 is a plan view of the flat counter blank.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the last and insole with archsupporting insert,and

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing my improved counter in place.

In Fig. l is shown the flat fiber board blank from which the counter isto be molded. This blank is died out from sheet material and then skivedin an area 11 so that the blank tapers to is top edge. The bottommargin- 0 al area 12 is molded into an inturned flange at the same timeas the blank is given its U-shaped contour.

In Fig. 1 the median line 13, or the axis of symmetry, is shown asextending perpendicularly to the bottom edge and substantially bisectsthe area of the counter although it will be understood that for certainstyles the side portions of the counter may be of unequal length. Indieing out the counter an elongated l-shaped notch 14 is formed in itstop edge. This notch is shown as extending downwardly for aboutone-quarter of the height of the blank or through the skived area 11. Itis unsymmetrically located and offset from the median line 13 towardthat end of the blank which is to lie in the outer side of the shoe.Moreover the longitudinal axis 15 of the notch is inclined so that ifprojected it will intersect the median line 13 at a point near thebottom of the counter. The notch itself merges through rounded cornersinto the top edge of the counter and has a rounded fillet at itsdownwardly directed apex.

In Figs. 2 and 3 is shown a last 16 having an insole 17 built up at itsinside shank and heel seat by an arch supporting wedge or tapered shim13. The proper location of the back seam line of a shoe constructed onthis last is indicated by the reference character 19 in both Figs. 2 and3, and it will be seen that this line makes an angle of somewhat morethan with respect to the tread face of the insole 17. This angle may beabout In Fig. 3 the counter 10 of my invention is shown as applied tothe last and insole of Fig. 2, and it will be seen that the longitudinalaxis of the notch 14, indicated by the line 15 in Fig. 1, has beenbrought into coincidence with the indicated back seam line 19. In otherwords, the axis of symmetry 13 of the counter has been drawn over towardthe built up side of the last and the notch now provides clearance foraccurately locating the back seam of the upper in coinciding relation tothe line 19.

In practice the notch 14 now provides a guide or track into which theback seam will fit when the upper is properly located as assembled onthe last 16, and thus facilitates the manufacture of arch-supportingshoes.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail anillustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

A molded counter for use in arch-supporting shoes in which the back-seamline of the shoe is inclined more than 90 with respect to the outer faceof the insole, said counter having a U-shaped body of stitf sheetmaterial, tapering to a thin top edge and having in its top edge anelongated V-shaped notch, located unsymmetrically, 011- set toward theouter side of the counter and with its longitudinal axis inclined to themedian line of the counter by substantially the same angle as thatbetween the back seam line and the outer face of the insole.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS469,258 Martin Feb. 23, 1892 1,859,533 Rowe May 24, 1932 2,821,032Helfet Jan. 28, 1958

